Refrigerator-latch.



P. N. PERKINS.

REFRIGERATOR LATCH.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 29, 1913.

1,092,285. Patented Apr. 7, 191 1 Ih venTEr Flgyd Nfarlfins UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

FLOYD N. PERKINS, OF FREEPORT, ILLIiNOIS, ASSIGNOR TO ARCADEMANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF FREEPOBT, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

REFRIGERATOR-LATCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. '7,

Application filed December 29, 1913.

To all whom it may concern -Be it known that I, F YD N. PERKINS,residing at Freeport, in the county of Stephenson and State of Illinois,have invented certain' new and useful Improvements in Re:frigerator-Latches, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the class of refrigerator latches, particularlydesigned for use on the doors of refrigerators in which a swinging armis pivoted upon either the door or the box so as to swing in a planesubstantiall parallel to the latter and engage an-inc ine upon the otherof said parts.

One of the purposes of my invention is to provide means whereby saidswinging arm may be operated automatically by the closing of the door soas to lock the latter in its closed position. The means by which thisend and others incidental thereto are attained, will be fully describedin connection with my preferred construction which is shown in thedrawings and the essential novel characteristics thereof will be pointedout at the end of this specification.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front eleva tion of a refrigerator latchsecured to a door and the adjacent portion of the box. Fig. 2 is a viewlooking downward upon the section plane indicated by the dotted line 22in Fig. 1 and Fig. 3 is a view difiering from Fig. 2 only in the factthat the movable parts are shown in a different position.

Referring to Fig. 1, A, represents a door hinged to swing in theordinary manner and B, a portion of the box against WhlCll said door 1smadeto swing. Upon the door is secured an incline 0:, the surface ofwhich diverges downwardly from the plane of the door and the lower endof which is continued in the form of a handle a On the box adjacent tothe incline is a plate or standard 6, upon which is pivoted a lockingarm I) to swing from the position shown 1n full lines upward and towardthe leftlnto the position shown in dotted llnes, which, it should benoticed, carries the center of gravity over the pivot so that it tendsto remain in the upward position when placed therein.

Between standard or post I), and a lug b projecting outward from thebase, thereof, is'pivoted a rocking lever If, by means of a vertical pin6 This lever has an arm 6,

' b? is arranged to strike the base of the standard b, and enable thelever to act as a stop to check the movement of the arm 6 toward theleft when it has reached the position shown in dotted lines. To enablethe arm to reach this position, it is slightly recessed as seen at 6 Thefull lines of Fig. 1, show the door closed and the latch in the lockedposition.

To open the door, the arm I) is swung into the posltlon shown in dottedlines, leaving the door free to be opened by means of the handle a Thismovement of the arm, rocks the lever 6 into the position shown in Fig.3, in which the arm I) of the lever has opened the door slightly bymeans of the finger a which rests against the arm 6 when the door isclosed. The movement of the arm 6 into the position shown in dottedlines, carries its center of gravity over the pivot upon which it swingsso that its own weight holds it in the open position. The shoulder b,rests against the base plate and the arm 6 against the shoulder b whichprevents it from falling downward upon the other side of the pivot. Thefurther opening of the door, leaves the parts of the latch in therelative positions shown in Fig. 3, except that the'finger a is carriedaway from the arm 6". Now, as the door is closed, the finger atstrikesthe arm b rocking the lever b and throwing the swinging arm 6 over uponthe other side of its pivot and down upon the incline, a. This movementis assisted by the weight of the swinging arm and it should be noticedthat the position of the incline a, and its arrangement upon the door,makes it possible to provide a long, easy incline, affording a powerfulwedging action upon the door to force the latter into its closedposition and crowd it tightly against the box.

I recognize the possibility of great variation as to details ofconstruction in the making of my invention and hence do not limit myselfto the preferred form here shown except as clearly pointed out inv thefollow ingclaims in which I intend to cover all of the patentablenovelty contained in my invention over the prior art.

I claim as new and desire to secure b Letters Patent v I 1. A door latchcomprising an incline for the door, having a finger projecting beyondthe edge ofthe latter, a standard for the casing, carrying a locking armswinging from a position out of the path of the door to a position uponsaid incline and a rocking lever upon the standard arranged in the pathof the locking arm and also in the path of said finger and operating tothrow the arm upon the incline when struck by the finger when the dooris closed.

2. A door latch, comprising an incline for attachment to the door, astandard for attachment to the casing, a locking arm pivoted upon thestandard and engaging the incline to crowd the door against the casing,a

rocking lever upon the standard engaging the locking arm to throw thelatter toward the incline, and means upon the door for actuating therocking lever. v

3. A door latch, comprising an incline for the door and a standard forthe casing, a locking arm pivoted upon the standard and swingingparallel with the casing to engage the incline, a lever throwing deviceupon the standard and a finger upon the door, engaging and-operatingsaid device when the door is closed.

In witness whereof I have signed the above application for LettersPatent at Freeport Illinois this 3d day of December A. D. 1913.

FLOYD N. PERKINS.

- Witnesses:

EMMA M. KNoRNsomLD, HORACE H. TARBOX.

